Reviews

A Chant About the Beauty of the Moon at Night: Hawaiian Steel Guitar Masters 1913-1921

VARIOUS ARTISTS

With Spanish guitars having been well established in the Hawaiian islands since the mid-1800s, local 16-year-old guitarist Joseph Kekuku is...

Reviewed by Seth Jordan in issue: October/2022

Pioneer Works Swing (Live)

Hailu Mergia | Hailu Mergia & The Walias

Not only did the Éthiopiques series make available a treasure of little known music from the golden age of Ethiopian...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: December/2023

Funk Globo: The Sound of Neo Baile

VARIOUS ARTISTS

As the world’s eye focuses on Brazil and its impending sporting exploits, the Brighton-based label Mr Bongo release a new...

Reviewed by Edward Craggs in issue: October/2013

Les Esprits Écoutent: The Spirits are Listening

VARIOUS ARTISTS

There are stunning sounds on this compilation of music by Siberian indigenous peoples, drawn from Buda's Siberia CD series, which...

Reviewed by Carole Pegg in issue: July/2014

Rastafari: The Dreads Enter Babylon 1955-83

VARIOUS ARTISTS

A dreadlocked mane, popularised eternally by Bob Marley, is an iconic image for Jamaican music. But would Rastafari have become...

Reviewed by Clyde Macfarlane in issue: November/2015

Live On Tour: Union Chapel November 2010

The Gift Band | Various Artists

There's not been, to my knowledge, a live album from Norma Waterson. So give a warm hand, please, for this...

Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Apr/May/2012

Asar

Muslim Shaggan

Pakistani singer Muslim Shaggan comes from an impressive lineage of vocal musicians in two ways. Firstly, his grandfather and teacher...

Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: June/2025

Molly Tigre

Molly Tigre

This Brooklyn quintet's eponymously named debut (available digitally and on cassette) features a twin saxophone front-line, with Mitch Marcus and...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: Aug/Sep/2018

Tuareg Music of the Southern Sahara

VARIOUS ARTISTS

For younger listeners who take for granted easy access to global music, it's hard to imagine the giddy feeling of...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: April/2020

Orfeo

Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party

The title-track of Orfeo is a version of the Orpheus and Eurydice story dating from the 13th century, via a...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: July/2012